UK’s managers don’t believe that their leaders are up to the job! That’s according to a new report by Edgecumbe Consulting Group.
They have found that only 36% of the UK’s managers feel that their business is in safe hands and only 40% are feeling confident about prosepcts for the future in these tough economic conditions, and they believe that it’s their leaders who are lacking!
- 50% said that their leaders had become more ‘task focused’ and….
- 61% said that they had become more short term oriented.
Apparently it’s worse in larger organisations employing more than 10,000 where 88% said that their leaders had become more short term oriented.
Of course people need to look at short term issues, particularly in these ‘tougher times’, but I believe a fundamental role of a leader is to look long term and create time to work strategically’. Characteristic #1 of The 7 Characteristics of 3D Businesses is that they ‘Get That Vision Thing’ and this comes from the leader establishing a clear picture of the future that ‘stimulates, excites and inspires’. Successful leaders are ‘visible’ and they make their vision visible!
It appears that many UK leaders simply aren’t doing this – and that’s key! They appear not to be. The reality is that if they are not seen to be doing it then that’s the problem! There may well be a long term vision, but if the only conversations they have are about short term targets, then that’s the emssage that people get.
Winning leaders consciously live and breath the ‘vison’ and they get their people to do the same. The report goes on to imply that many are not doing that either! Nearly half of the managers interviewed think their leaders are bad at aligning their people.
So, 5 questions for you…….
- Do you have ‘that vision thing’?
- Do you create time to work strategically and think long term as well as short term?
- Do you ‘demonstrate’ that to your people?
- Do you proactively ‘engage’ your people?
- Do you keep your ‘vision’ live and visible?
If the answer is ‘no’ to these questions, then there’s a fair chance that you’ve got some work to do!
I’ll leave you with the words of Steve Jobs who seemed pretty good at thinking long term and getting the confidence of his people
